Englishmen and their Habits

Most people in England work and study a five-day week from Monday to Friday and consequently rest from Friday evening till Monday morning.

Everyone looks forward to the weekend and on Friday as people leave their offices, hospitals and colleges they wish each other a nice weekend. And on Monday morning they traditionally ask: “Did you have a nice weekend?”

Many people leave towns and go to the countryside. Every English person is a countryman or a countrywoman at heart. When s/he looks out of the window of his town flat s/he dreams of the time when s/he will live in a little cottage of his/her own with roses and honeysuckles in front of the house and small patches of soil with cucumber, tomato and cabbage in the kitchen garden behind and breathe in the fresh air of unpolluted countryside.

Those who stay at home at the weekend try both to have a rest and catch up with all the jobs they fail to do during the week. Women do all kinds of things such as: washing, mending, cleaning, shopping and cooking; men do some odd jobs about the house, they may wash the car and do some gardening as well.

Saturday morning is the best time for shopping as you can spend as much time on it as you want.

As for Saturday evening it is the favourite time for organizing parties, going to the pictures, clubs or pubs. Pubs are special English institutions with characteristic traditional image: a low ceiling supported by old oak trunks, a burning fire and a bar. There is a general atmosphere of calmness and warmth there. Comfort is essential since people don’t come here just for a quick drink, they stay in the pub for some hours talking to friends, discussing local events and from time to time they take a sip – for Englishmen don’t swallow their drinks – and then put down the mug to continue the conversation. Every country has its drinking habits and its national drink. In England beer can be called the national drink.

Having gone to bed late the night before, many people prefer a lie-in on Sunday morning. Some prefer to have breakfast in bed but it depends on the fact whether there is someone willing to prepare and serve it. While having breakfast Englishmen like to read Sunday papers. There are several of them published on Sunday, though they vary greatly in their ways of news presenting. There are serious papers for those who want to know about important events all over the world as well as domestic news. Alongside with these papers there are the so-called popular newspapers for those who prefer entertainment to information.

If the weather is fine on Sunday, people may decide to go out and spend the day in the park. Londoners do not have to go far to find green lawns and flowers for London is rich in parks and gardens.

But the weather in England is so changeable that it has become a favourite topic for discussion and tradition to start any conversation with different remarks about the weather.

VOCABULARY

a five day week – пятидневная неделя

honeysuckle - жимолость

look forward to smth/doing smth – с нетерпением ждать чего-то

countryside -сельская местность

odd jobs - отдельные, не связанные друг с другом рабочие задания, которые выполняются от случая к случаю, обычно низко оплачиваются и не требуют особой квалификации

catch up with all the jobs – проделать всю работу

catch up with smb – догнать кого-либо

pictures (Br) – кино

take a sip – сделать глоток

a lie-in – поздний подъем утром, возможность полежать в постели

get out of practice – разучиться что-то делать

how are you getting on? – как дела?

changeable - непостоянный, изменчивый, неустойчивый